


Sylvan Ships

by fluffykomodo (god_is_undead)



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Clone Wars, I am the worst, I got the idea from TLJ, I have no idea how to tag this fic so here you are I tried, I’m sorry, I’m sorry again, Politics, Separatists, Tactical chitchat, and use of specific kinds of tactics, discussions of political legitimacy, for the sequel trilogy, help me please, mentions of - Freeform, mon mothma has thoughts on the galaxy, spruced up revenant from the insane graveyard that is my hard drive, the rebellion is considering Problematic Things, there is a big difference between strategy and tactics, use of clones in the clone wars, use of droids in the clone wars, very bad foreshadowing, why can’t I be a normal fangirl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 06:02:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13428351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/god_is_undead/pseuds/fluffykomodo
Summary: Mon Mothma has a discussion with members of the Rebellion about the use of ships against Star Destroyers—that is to say, their use at light speed on Star Destroyers.Takes place before R1.Inspired by that one scene in TLJ and the fact that I am an awfully cynical piece of shit. (I'm sorry about the title I couldn't think of what to call this.)





	Sylvan Ships

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first thing I thought of when I saw that scene in TLJ. I refuse, outright, to believe that in-universe, no one had ever thought of running a ship at lightspeed through another fucking ship, not when in Ep 4, the first damn movie, Han Solo literally says that miscalculating a hyperspace jump could kill you. 
> 
> As cool as that scene was. Because holy shit it was fucking cool. 
> 
> HERE WE GO.

The warm, sylvan atmosphere of the base on Yavin’s moon was nothing like that of Chandrila or Coruscant, but Mon Mothma had begun to grow truly used to it, even fond. In a similar vein, in this Rebellion, there was a genuinely inclusive, participatory energy here, one very different than the prescribed protocols and chilly, monumental, gleaming sterility of the Senate, even as it had been before the Clone Wars, with its sleepy if pedantic application of formalized gesture that had very much run to complacency.

General Draven leaned forward over the holotank.

“Are you suggesting that we engage in _suicide attacks?_ ”

Yraa, a tall and gray-furred Togorian who wasn’t currently wearing his rank badge (but, she seemed to remember, was a Captain or thereabouts), leaned forward too, although he hardly needed to, to be seen properly.

“A ship in hyperspace, even one as small as an X-Wing, aimed at a Star Destroyer, would certainly generate enough power to destroy it!”

“And where did you get this idea,” the General demanded.

“It’s as old as hyperdrive travel, something every trader knows is their last resort,” Yraa retorted, unimpressed. “Miscalculations on hyperspace trajectories lead to similar, accidental incidents. They’re very rare now because navicomputers have gotten so good. But the Empire would have no defense against this kind of attack. We could take out whole Star Destroyers in one shot!”

“We absolutely do not have the manpower, let alone equipment, to support that kind of tactic!”

Republic, and then Imperial military policy, particularly since the implementation of the Tarkin Doctrine, prescribed the preferential use of disproportionately overwhelming force whenever possible, against which their nascent Rebellion didn’t have the strength to stand. Without some fundamental change in fortunes, this war would not see the kind of pitched battles between assembled fleets in the way of the Battle of Coruscant. The Mon Calamari had dedicated cruisers, but their combined strength was as nothing compared to a fraction of the Empire’s might. Every ship, every individual, was a precious resource that could not be wasted.

“We could use remotes,” chimed in Lieutenant Laya.

“ _Droids?_ ” Draven spat, clearly disgusted. “Are we Separatists now?”

There was a sudden upswell in conversation, complaints and agreements rushing like an angry, rising stream all around them.

Mon Mothma said nothing for a moment and let the discussion flow.

She immediately recognized how that would be spun by the Imperial media: Separatists were still seen by the galaxy at large as being patient zero, the bursting point of the rot that had long afflicted the Republic, a symptom of the sickness which had obligated Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to take a firm hand and restore order. And although many diehard Separatists had found new homes in the Rebellion through a coincidence of basic interest—the destruction of the Empire—disagreement, sometimes very serious, still existed within the ranks on many key issues that would only become relevant in the postwar era.

(She often worried, privately, about how those divisions would reassert themselves if or when they succeeded in winning this war, and especially how they would manifest and evolve alongside changes wrought by the Empire, which might not be as simple as _undoing_ , especially if compromise became the price of peace…Someone, no doubt, would want to keep what they had gained, and would try to rationalize why what they had had not been gained in ill faith, and why they should keep it. Specific human-centric policies and laws could be repealed—but what of ossifying institutionalized prejudice on some planets?)

Bail Organa shared her concerns, but they both agreed that that was a bridge they would have to cross when they came to it. Right now, Mon Mothma could not afford to allow this Rebellion to mire itself in a tar pit. They had already distanced themselves from Saw Gerrera because of his lack of concern for innocents caught in the crossfire. There was already fear, reluctance, and so much uncertainty in the face of overwhelming odds…

The point was, even if the Rebellion had somehow found the resources to fund and field a droid army—and there was no chance of that; all of the Republic’s privatized trading federations and consortiums had been absorbed into the Empire’s state apparatus and explicitly turned towards production of military materiel—the first thing the Empire would do would be to point to the fact that the Separatists had used droids. Separatists— _illegitimate governments_ , to the vast majority of the galaxy—fought using non-biologic lifeforms. Legitimate governments put flesh and blood on the line in their own defense.

 _For all some actually thought of the clones as such_ , she thought, absorbing the sad irony with a twinge of regret at how disposable they had seemed to some of her colleagues in the Senate at the time. But that was another argument for another day: the clones as a means of minimizing the actual, personal effect of the war on the individual citizen, and therefore a means of controlling public opinion. The Empire had, afterwards, quietly transitioned from an abstracted clone army to Stormtrooper ranks made up of its own citizens, after the danger to those citizens had been erased. Very subtle—very clever, on the Emperor’s part.

“The Rebellion cannot afford to use such tactics,” Mon Mothma stated calmly. And they could not afford to alienate potential allies at this vulnerable time…

That provoked a whole new round of chatter, but effectively, the discussion was over.

“We might succeed once,” said General Dodonna, lifting his voice above those around him. “We might even succeed a hundred times. It could be done with droids. But it simply isn’t a useful strategy to pursue in any wider sense to attempt to destroy every single Star Destroyer the Empire has, even with remotes. There are simply too many of them and too few of us. They can replace one Star Destroyer or a hundred Star Destroyers, we can’t replace our own resources near so easily. We would be throwing away our ships and people away.”

Mon Mothma silently thanked Dodonna for steering the discussion off course from any direct condemnations of Separatists or their use of droids. More than one individual in this room had fought under the spoked hexagon, and they clung just as fiercely to their principles as those who had fought for the Republic.

Yraa pulled back from the holotank with a snarl.

“This Rebellion isn’t much of a rebellion,” he muttered as he left. “It seems like we don’t do much of anything except tickle the Empire’s nose!” He vanished around the corner in a rustle of fur and low growling.

Mon Mothma did not sigh, although she felt like she wanted to. Almost twenty years had passed since the end of the Clone Wars, the death of her friend, Padmé Amidala, and the end of the Republic. Sometimes it felt like a century, and so much had changed.

She did not slouch, even though she was tired. There would be time for that later. She would just have to hope that when the time did come, what they would create would be strong enough to carry its own burdens. Until then, she would continue to do her best to balance that which was within her capacity.

**Author's Note:**

> Mon Mothma, canonically, held the New Republic together until she passed on. She is that good. Mon Mothma is awesome.
> 
> (And also yes, for reasons of something like mass v velocity and I’m not a fucking natural scientist who does physics, a ship as small as an X-wing could in fact take out a Star Destroyer. It wouldn’t work on the Death Star, because of relative mass and gravity, but it would on an ISD. Yay science side of the internet!)
> 
> I have Thoughts™ on TLJ, but here’s the reeeally summarized version:
> 
> 1\. It makes TFA, which, after the hype faded, a lot of people said was too similar to ANH, a lot more interesting. Brings to mind the thought “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
> 
> 2\. Hux is a so-far underestimated but incredibly dangerous, insecure, backstabbing little shit, and the 3rd movie will probably be, in my humble opinion, Kylo vs. FO and FO vs. Resistance/Republic. My body is ready. Gimme vicious, weasely Hux (oh god was that a pun yes let’s say it was) plz. Ps, Hux, for fuck’s sake, stop flirting with your boyfriend and pay attention, if only for the sake of…
> 
> 3\. CAPTAIN CANADY, 11/10. I DEMAND MORE SALTY EX-IMPERIALS WHO LOWKEY THROW SHADE AT THE STUPID CHILDREN THEY HAVE TO TOLERATE AND TAKE ORDERS FROM (but not if you’re just going to kill them in five minutes, ffs…). That Dreadnought was badass. Honestly, this movie made the FO look way more interesting. And I’d kind of always figured they were a bunch of ideology-obsessed kids with zero experience—and hey, guess who’s got two thumbs and a headcanon that just achieved canon status? THIS CHICK. YESS.
> 
> 4\. I love Finn, and I love Rose, and I loved the emphasis of their story arc on Canto Bight (hey, military industrial complex), but I hated how non-sequitur it was and how much it failed to impart the politics of the wider galaxy, thus leaving the events of the movie feeling very small and isolated. 
> 
> 5\. For fuck’s sake, if you’re going to make the Republic a paper tiger that falls in 5 minutes, either write your opening crawls better, or show it somehow. It makes sense because background, but it was never even hinted at in the movies. Do NOT tell me that I should just read the book. No. Fuck off, they should tell the story a little more coherently.
> 
> 6\. Kylo Ren is my favorite conflicted swol boi. That is all.
> 
> 7\. Poe, you fucking flyboy. Admirals don’t need to tell Captains their plans. And on top of that, you just got demoted, an entire fleet killed, disobeyed orders, and the FO might try to interrogate people if they catch them escaping. It’s called need to know basis, and you didn’t need to know. But I still love you.
> 
> 8\. I liked Luke’s characterization, for reasons that take too long to go into in these notes. Heroes get remembered, legends never die. (Hey, that movie had James Earl Jones in it!)
> 
> 9\. TLJ was essentially a slow chase movie, needlessly contrived. I thought that the FO’s fucking spec ops TIEs had shields and hyperdrives and shit, at the very least.
> 
> 10\. I actually did like it, but I am a phenomenal complainer. I mean world class.
> 
> 11\. Porgs are GGFA Tribbles. Until I have proof otherwise, Porgs are an invasive species. I really really want one. I would name it Kevin.
> 
> 12\. There is an unusual concentration of gingers with names in the FO. Hux, Rodinon, Canady…so, um, what’s up with that, guys? We going with the soulless trope here?


End file.
